


Linchpin

by rileywrites



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sterek Bingo 2017, mention of violence, sbpackmom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 08:59:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileywrites/pseuds/rileywrites
Summary: Okay, so Derek has never been touchy-feely and emotional, but-"Jesus fuck, if you keep getting your furry ass drugged, next time I'm leaving you in the ditch."





	Linchpin

Okay, so Derek has never been touchy-feely and emotional, but-

"Jesus fuck, if you keep getting your furry ass drugged, next time I'm leaving you in the ditch."

Stiles keeps them alive, keeps them moving, even when nothing makes any goddamn sense anymore, and-

"See, this is why we don't go running into gunfire, you absolute asswipe!"

He doesn't even flinch at blood anymore, at stitching wounds and burning wolfsbane and pulling arrows out of flesh and-

"This is the third time this month. You can't keep bleeding on my floor, Hale. I'm running out of room in my bleach budget, and lord knows what a blacklight in this house would look like."

He's holding the entire fucked-up wagon train together, the linchpin to end all linchpins.

"Derek, are you even listening to me?"

Derek cobbles together enough attention to make his eyes focus on Stiles' face. Stiles looks worried. Stiles should never look worried.

"Wha?"

Stiles sighs. "Stay with me, dumbass. I don't have time for you to die in my arms again. It'd be the third time, and that's three times too many."

"M'not in your arms," Derek mumbles. "M'on your kitchen floor."

Talking makes his eyes go out of focus again, so Derek just gives up on looking at him. He feels numb, buzzy.

"Keep talking to me, Hale. Keep talking, so I know you're still in there."

"Don't know what to say. Um... you're super nice. And... And you're the only reason we're all still alive. You're like... I dunno, like pack mom or something. Always ready with the first aid kit and glucose tabs and shit."

Stiles snorts, and Derek can't feel his feet but he can definitely feel Stiles roll his eyes.

"No, s'true. You're human, but like... like, you make sure we're human too."

Derek wants to hold Stiles' hand, but his arm won't cooperate.

"I can't move," he observes.

"You're a fucking genius," Stiles deadpans.

"Why can't I move? Why do I feel foggy?"

"You're drugged, remember? Those hunters shot you with a new kind of anti-wolf bullet, and now you're drugged and bleeding on my floor."

"I do that a lot," Derek observes. He can't keep his eyes open, and his throat feels itchy. "Were there hazelnuts in the bullets? I'm allergic."

"No, fuck, but your throat is closing up anyway, Jesus fucking christ." Stiles rustled around and then there's the sound of an auto-injector firing, then another. Derek should probably have felt that. "Fucking werewolf metabolism is going to kill you quicker, jesus."

Derek whines. He doesn't like hearing Stiles so distressed. His throat stops itching, and he tells him as much.

"Good. You owe me money for epinephrine, just so you know."

"Add it to my tab."

There's a clattering on the floor, bullet hitting tile once, twice, three times, then the telltale smell of burned wolfsbane. It smells different, sweeter.

"Okay, here we go. Deep breath, if you can manage it. Hopefully you'll be able to feel this."

"You're so good at taking care of us, of me, of my pack, don't know what I'd do without you."

"Die," Stiles says bluntly. "You would die. Many  times, in multiple ways."

"I'd miss you. Who else would make sure I ate enough? And guard Isaac's door when he has bad nights? And cuddle the pups so Erica and Boyd can sleep? And keep Scott anchored? And keep me human? I'd miss you."

Silence.

Then, quietly, "I'd miss you too, dumbass."

Derek's response is cut off by a howl as feeling comes rushing back into his body from the wounds outward, pain causing his mind to go blank in defense.

...

Derek wakes in Stiles' office, in the guest bed tucked in the corner that smells like pack. His chest aches with the pull and flex of healing tissue, but all of his limbs respond when he tries to move.

"Stay down," Stiles says as Derek attempts to sit up. He's at his computer, glasses on his nose and coffee in his hand. "You just regrew most of your small intestine, and you aren't going anywhere."

Derek sinks back into the pillows with a huff. "It wasn't that bad."

Stiles looks unimpressed with his bravado.

"Derek, my forceps were inside your body. I think I know how deep those bullets went. There's still stained grout in the kitchen. I saw inside your abdomen. Pipe the fuck down and rest."

"Fine." Derek closes his eyes. "The rest of the pack?"

"Safe. Scott and Argent took down the hunters that got you. The north American council will not be pleased with the territory breach, so the consequences will be appropriately brutal. No one else got injured except for you, asshole."

"I'm sorry I scared you." It comes out softer than Derek intended. "Thank you for saving me again."

"You're welcome," Stiles says, finally looking straight at him. "Thank you for not dying on me."

"I had nothing to do with it, but you're welcome." Derek holds his arms out, unashamed of his need for contact. "C'mere, man."

Stiles sets his glasses on the desk and slides into bed with Derek, hugging him tight. Stiles' face fits right where Derek's neck meets his shoulder, their limbs tangled together easily.

It hits him like a truck, like a fucking epiphany.

"I love you," Derek says bluntly. "We should be together." 

Silence.

Then, quietly, "Yeah, okay. Let's do that."

It only took them ten years to get here.

"Oh, and even with us dating, I'm not the fucking pack mom."

Shit, Derek said all that out loud last night.

"How about the linchpin?" he offers.

Stiles chuckles, his breath puffing against Derek's skin.

"I'll take it."


End file.
